From Cologne to Vancouver - How to get there without having fun!

Anyone who thinks the two of them set up the site to talk about another nice vacation will be sent much further ahead on the journey than some might suspect. Let's start about four days before leaving beautiful Cologne. Five days before the two wanted to set off, Günther was plagued by diarrhea with all the trimmings. The viral infection, which comes with the full program, does not allow him to rest. After a visit to the emergency medical service on Sunday and further bodily harm caused by the administration of 9 doses of the worst kind of electrolyte solution to the already weakened and battered body, it should still work until Tuesday ...

The belief and hope that everything will still be fine is finally buried when the fever thermometer shoots up to 39 degrees in the night from Sunday to Monday, the day before departure. Hours later, Günther wakes up 'soaked' in bed. Quickly measured the fever again and found that sweating has cooled his body and the body temperature is now only 36 degrees.

In the morning, both decide to consult the doctor about what to do or not to do. The doctor does not advise against the trip, only suggesting that the vacation or the next few days should not be too strenuous. So take it easy.

Both agree to this. With a great deal of confidence, they plan to carry out the vacation as planned long before.

But don't think that's all ...

Then on Tuesday afternoon it really starts. Bags packed, flowers and house in good hands, and with a lot of excitement for the next four weeks, they head to Cologne Central Station. The planned ICE train to Utrecht is initially 15 minutes late. Well, for frequent train travelers, this fact doesn't cause any wrinkles on their face. At first, it doesn't bother us either, as the connecting train from Utrecht to Amsterdam-Schiphol has a time buffer and we are supposed to depart from the same platform.

But you should not believe that ICE stands for InterCity EXPRESS ... we don't know what the 'E' stands for, it has not become clear to us. Because the maximum speed that the ICE has on the entire, almost three-hour journey from Cologne to Utrecht is only 120 km/h ... and somehow they actually managed not to make up for the approximately 30-minute delay with which the ICE finally departed in Cologne. No, even better, they doubled the time. So we arrive in Utrecht with an hour delay. The planned connecting train to the airport did not want to wait for us after all, and the hint given by the nice girl on the ICE that a train to Schiphol departs every 15 minutes was only partially true, as the train following the missed train simply didn't run! So the two waited another half an hour for the connecting train to the airport.

Finally, arrived there at 10:15 p.m., they went to the booked hotel first. The flight operation was planned to start the next day ...

Wednesday morning, having a good but restrained breakfast (Günther should not strain his intestines too much), they made their way to the airport in pouring rain. The flight plan of the two showed an LH flight to Munich at around 11 a.m. and the onward flight from Munich to Vancouver was supposed to start at around 4 p.m.

So far so good ...

First, the delay of the plane to Munich was announced. It should take about 40 minutes ... Well, there is anyway a time buffer in Munich and actually big enough for such unforeseen tricks ... After the plane had landed, all the passengers had disembarked and the luggage of the new passengers had been loaded again, it was apparently only determined then that the planes had been hit by a lightning strike and that the entire electronics would have to be checked, which would take AT LEAST two hours ... Now the supposedly sufficient time buffer in Munich was getting damn tight or it was clear that the plane to Vancouver would not be reached today ...

First, the guests who had booked a connecting flight were asked to pick up their luggage at baggage claim 2. This should take about 20 minutes until the suitcases were there and then the flight passengers should go back to check-in counter 1A to check in for a new flight to their final destination ... Whatever that may have been ... ???

Of course, even at baggage claim, the devil was in the temporal detail. The purported 20 minutes turned into an hour until the approximately 10 suitcases of the few passengers with connecting flights were back with their owners. But now a sprint to the check-in counter again across the airport grounds in the hope of finding two seats in a plane to Vancouver, whether direct or via whatever ...

The friendly LH staff member regretted that there were only a few flights from Schiphol to Vancouver anyway. And in the two that left on the same day, there was only one seat left in each. So nothing for us. The suggestion that thanks to a valid ESTA, entry could also be made via the USA, gave the friendly ground staff a little more confidence. Directed to a desk for special tasks, the also friendly LH woman then found two seats on a plane to San Francisco. From there, onward connection to Vancouver ...

And as "everything had gone in relaxed mode" so far, even now the blood pressure did not calm down. The plane was about to leave soon and the distance in kilometers over the almost familiar airport grounds had to be covered. But no matter, it seemed as if the journey had found its way now ...

A final look at the type of aircraft: A Boeing 787 Dreamliner (at least not a Max8) ...